[narsi_6989]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Ideally you should rotate your tires every 5000 kms for even wear of all the four tires. If not 5k, you should atleast do it every 10k Kms.
If that's done, I think, this problem will have a good solution in addition to the application of WD 40, emery paper and oil.
Additionally, this is good for the wear of the tyres too

Yes dhanushmenon, the tire rotation is the best solution and is done in my car every 10K kms. But here the issue we are talking about comes up at the first puncture.

[AGwagon]

Originally Posted by narsi_6989

As Sisu mentioned it happened in my Fabia too. And if I am not wrong this happens in most of the cars. The alloys tend to get to stick to the hub. This is because the first puncture normally happens after 10k-15k kms (being tubeless) and the wheels are there since manufacture and when you remove the wheels you can also observe small amount of rust. I observed. I found it hard the first time to remove the wheels. As a remedy measure, I just used emery paper both on hub and wheel to clean the rust, applied some oil and everything is fine since then. I make it a point to use sand paper and oil during every puncture.

Narsi, I have tried everything on my XUV, both the sand paper and wd40, but it would just not budge. Most of the time the puncture wala has to actually lay under the car and attack the tire with a hammer from the inner rim side to let it off the hub. I have seen it at least 4-5 times on my XUV to know that this job is best tackled only at a service station. Since then I have kept a electric air pump in the car to refill it to get to a nearby service station easily. But, I agree god forbids you are caught at a place where you have to do it yourself.


On other note, I have sent my car for the 40k service today. Besides the general oil & filter change, it also requires the tyre rotation and hence the allignment and balancing and the TPMS - cost at the service station 1500

Then the car is also in need of new brake pads at the rear, I am impressed they took a 40k beating. Haven't seen that happening ever especially with my driving style.

All in all total costs would be near about 12-13k for the service and repairs.

Still to get the vehicle, so lets see what's the difference post the work.

[nitinralli]

I had my first puncture after 1 and half year (30K kms) later that too when a BIG nail went in straight. BUT i didn't face this issue at all. Went to puncture wala and he removed it without any issue. Could this be related to XUV standard alloys as well?? Since mine's are aftermarket ones, hence guessing.

[vinucv]

Originally Posted by reevester

Public Service Announcement:

I had to resort to calling the Mahindra helpline (which sucks by the way) to help me out!

Drive Safe!

I was told that XUV has an exclusive toll free road service number and issues will be attended on priority. Isn't that the case ? I am mulling over to buy an XUV and this doesn't sound great :(

[debuda]

Originally Posted by reevester

Guys, over the past two months, I have had two separate punctures in my XUV. Once in the rear-right and once in the rear-left tire (quite weird that its always the rear tires!).

Anyways, on both occasions I had decided to change the tire by myself and faced one huge issue. After you have jacked up the car and unbolted the tires, you will find the tire literally jammed onto the wheel hub. The first time I had a puncture, it was at 11PM in Lonavala! I had to resort to calling the Mahindra helpline (which sucks by the way) to help me out!

Originally Posted by SDP

^^^ Its a valid concern. Although I have had no punctures yet, I have seen the exact same scene at the service center a few times - the mechanic hitting the tyre a few times to disengage it from the disc/wheel-hub. Can't imagine why the disc has such a high affinity for the alloy. Do any other M&M vehicles have this tendency?

Originally Posted by Sisu

This happened to my Skoda Fabia too. The alloy just sticks onto the hub and substantial force is required to get it off. Had called the Skoda helpline guys the first time it happened.

Originally Posted by AGwagon

Narsi, I have tried everything on my XUV, both the sand paper and wd40, but it would just not budge. Most of the time the puncture wala has to actually lay under the car and attack the tire with a hammer from the inner rim side to let it off the hub. I have seen it at least 4-5 times on my XUV to know that this job is best tackled only at a service station. Since then I have kept a electric air pump in the car to refill it to get to a nearby service station easily. But, I agree god forbids you are caught at a place where you have to do it yourself.

I did a quick search on Google and the gist of what I found is :

1. Alloy wheels are more prone to 'sticking' to the wheel hub because dissimilar metals (metals far apart from each other in the electrochemical series) in contact tend to corrode (oxidize) more rapidly. Because the alloys are made of aluminium alloy and the hubs are made of steel and both are held tightly together (with minute gaps for water, oxygen and road salt to seep in) it forms an electrochemical 'cell' and chemical reaction takes place bonding both surfaces together.
   
2. This problem (sticking) is quite common even in the best and most expensive cars of the world.
   
3. There are many ways to get the wheel unstuck. The simplest one is to jack up the wheel, loosen the nuts and hit the wheel with a brick, stone or hammer taking care not to damage the rim (put a block of wood or thick cloth between the rim and hammer). If this doesn't work, lower the jack (with the nuts slightly loosened) and move the car back and forth. If even that fails, jack it up, take wheel nuts off, stick a block of wood or brick under the outside half of the tyre and lower the car -- it should work.
   
4. Apparently, the ultimate solution for this problem is to apply a thin film of COPPER GREASE between the wheel and hub whenever a wheel is removed.

Fortunately, my XUV-W6 has steel wheels resting on steel hubs and so the problem of sticking is less. But as I know from personal experience, steel-on-steel does not mean that they won't stick. On a couple of occasions, I had a tough time removing wheels (steel) from my 118NE and Esteem. But yes, the problem is more with alloy wheels.

Copper grease or elbow grease -- take your pick!

[kaiserketkar]

Originally Posted by reevester

Public Service Announcement:

My point being, if you go on extended trips, do ensure that you get your tires dismounted/remounted after every few months. Would save you a bucket load of time and frustration should you happen to have a flat!

Drive Safe!

That's a bad situation to be in especially in the middle of the night.

As far as your suggestion is concerned, won't wheel balancing & rotation every 5k kms will take care of this issue? They remove the tyres anyways for that.

Edit:
Oops, I see the suggestion is already posted.

One query I have pertaining to the suggestions offered so far- isn't applying some Form of lubricant- grease or WD40 setting the wheel up for some more trouble? If that gets onto the threads of the wheel nut, you'll have it loosening over time- an even more dangerous situation to be in.

[yogibear007]

Originally Posted by kaiserketkar

One query I have pertaining to the suggestions offered so far- isn't applying some Form of lubricant- grease or WD40 setting the wheel up for some more trouble? If that gets onto the threads of the wheel nut, you'll have it loosening over time- an even more dangerous situation to be in.

With the amount of force that is supposed to be applied while tightening the wheel nuts, a presence of some amount of Oil will not make them loose I guess. Also, a built in safety factor is that these nuts are supposedly self tightening during the wheel rotations. So this should again minimize the possibility of them coming loose.
In any case, the lubricant application suggestion was for a small amount on the hub surface and not dousing it with oil. Especially if you are using a spray, lubricant seepage will not be there.
All in all, I think tire rotation and debuda's mentioned method of loosening the nuts should take care of the eventualities.

[Seran Manian]

A wonderful support Idea from Debuda. Applying Grease is the best solution. One need not worry about the wheel bolts getting loose, as the wheel bolts now a days are self latching.

[CARDEEP]

I too agree with @debuda, regarding the wheels sticking to wheel hub due to rusting/ oxidisation, caused by high moisture in air, spray of water on wheels while cleaning or passage of time.

Have experienced the same on my Santro Xing as well. Basically because of moisture in air ( I live near to a water body), wheel alignment after 10K kms & no puncture on the tyres since long, I had to face the same problem when my Michelins had a puncture few days back (courtesy a screw which got struck in grooves & pierced through the front right tyre rubber), i.e. the wheel won't come out, when I tried dismounting the tyre & replace same with the spare. Ultimately, I had to screw the same back & drive around a km with under-inflated tyre to the puncture repair shop, where he used the hammer to whack the wheel out.

(Elbow) grease was applied to the tyre before mounting the same back. No problems (touch-wood) after that.

[reevester]

Originally Posted by vinucv

I was told that XUV has an exclusive toll free road service number and issues will be attended on priority. Isn't that the case ? I am mulling over to buy an XUV and this doesn't sound great :(

Don't ALL car manufacturers give this as a selling point?

Anyways, the XUV support staff isn't too keen on helping out and will frustrate you when you are trying to explain your problem with pointless questions.

Apart from that, their network isn't that great.

If I were you, I would NOT base my purchasing decision on the quality of the toll free service.

[Heavy Horse]

Originally Posted by reevester

Don't ALL car manufacturers give this as a selling point?

Anyways, the XUV support staff isn't too keen on helping out and will frustrate you when you are trying to explain your problem with pointless questions.

Apart from that, their network isn't that great.

If I were you, I would NOT base my purchasing decision on the quality of the toll free service.

Reevster, one alternative to the toll free number is to contact your RM and obtain the Service Manager's contacts of the dealership nearest to you, and get in touch with that person. This worked very well for me when I was stranded in Goa in April this year. Off course I can't say how well this will work at night.

[Seran Manian]

The more I hear about XUV500 problems, the more I hear the way in which M&M washes its hands off when customers need its support badly, my idea to enlist XUV500 in the next probable Cars list disappears. I love its looks and I wish to go for a Indian make, but I dont intend ending up in a service station every now and then, that too after having a trouble free Logan for the past 5 years and 6 months!

[nitinralli]

Originally Posted by Seran Manian

The more I hear about XUV500 problems, the more I hear the way in which M&M washes its hands off when customers need its support badly, my idea to enlist XUV500 in the next probable Cars list disappears. I love its looks and I wish to go for a Indian make, but I dont intend ending up in a service station every now and then, that too after having a trouble free Logan for the past 5 years and 6 months!

After 2 years of ownership i can only say is that XUV is good just that you need to take care of it more than anything else, specially the electronics. No matter what you do, Bulbs will go off no matter its low beam, high beam,fog lights etc. they will go off for sure. I can bet you on that.

[fundagenie]

Originally Posted by vinucv

I was told that XUV has an exclusive toll free road service number and issues will be attended on priority. Isn't that the case ? I am mulling over to buy an XUV and this doesn't sound great :(

Originally Posted by reevester

Don't ALL car manufacturers give this as a selling point?

Anyways, the XUV support staff isn't too keen on helping out and will frustrate you when you are trying to explain your problem with pointless questions.

Apart from that, their network isn't that great.

If I were you, I would NOT base my purchasing decision on the quality of the toll free service.

Originally Posted by Heavy Horse

Reevster, one alternative to the toll free number is to contact your RM and obtain the Service Manager's contacts of the dealership nearest to you, and get in touch with that person. This worked very well for me when I was stranded in Goa in April this year. Off course I can't say how well this will work at night.

Originally Posted by Seran Manian

The more I hear about XUV500 problems, the more I hear the way in which M&M washes its hands off when customers need its support badly, my idea to enlist XUV500 in the next probable Cars list disappears. I love its looks and I wish to go for a Indian make, but I dont intend ending up in a service station every now and then, that too after having a trouble free Logan for the past 5 years and 6 months!

I am not sure about the XUV toll free number. But had a fairly good experience with during a recent break down of my XUV. My car broke down on a Saturday evening at around 7pm and got in touch with my RM at Anant cars, bangalore. In 15-20 mins a technician had come over and got it repaired.

Also the support I received from Mahindra Area manager to get a couple of issues resolved was also great. So building a personal relationship with your local support staff, I think might be a better option than the toll free. Agree with heavy horse on this.

Below are the posts on these
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3198694
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3205159

An XUV is not a perfectly niggle free car, but the kind of experience it provides a enthusiastic driver really overcomes all of these. And I believe this is what makes most XUV owner love this car.

FundaG

[Urban Nomad]

Originally Posted by Seran Manian

The more I hear about XUV500 problems, the more I hear the way in which M&M washes its hands off when customers need its support badly, my idea to enlist XUV500 in the next probable Cars list disappears. I love its looks and I wish to go for a Indian make, but I dont intend ending up in a service station every now and then, that too after having a trouble free Logan for the past 5 years and 6 months!

See no car is perfect and is niggle free. Every car has it own pain points and fair share of niggles.

XUV for sure has its own share of niggles albeit if you like the car enough take the plunge and you will not regret

Key is to treat XUV like a girl friend or wife and it will love you back,

Yes somedays it will seek more attention then necessary like your girl friend or wife and will not always be rational

In the nutshell XUV is not for one night stand, it's a long term relationship wherein both partners are committed